The Campaign

Fish has played a very important role in Japanese food since ancient times. However, with the recent influx of Western food, the habit of eating fish and the level of fish knowledge in Japan has dramatically declined. We challenged people’s ignorance about fish and stir some social debate by utilizing an urban legend that Japanese children believe that salmon actually swim in the shape of a fillet.

The Brief

To get an attention to an educational program is very hard, especially “fish” is not an attractive subject for Japanese audience. We also didn’t have much media budget to promote the program. So, we focused on appealing people’s “ignorance” to attract public attention and stir social debate.

Execution

We made a robotic salmon fillet made of four tiny, rubber - covered motors which reproduced the delicate movements of a fish. With the help of an aquarium, we conducted a social experiment and released a film.

The film immediately went viral and gained over 400,000 views in a week and stirred social debate. Finally, it succeeded in getting attention for the program and viewer rate rose by 10%. (Tier 1) Only $800 production cost generated $400,000 free media exposure,which is 50 times of ROI. (Tier 3)

The Situation

Challenge the ignorance and stir social debate. As a result, Over 400,000 views in a week $400,000 free media exposure with only $800 production cost, 50 times ROI Succeeded in getting attention for the program. Viewer rate rose by 10%.

The Strategy

To get an attention to an educational program is very hard, especially “fish” is not an attractive subject for Japanese audience. We also didn’t have much media budget to promote the program. So, we focused on appealing people’s “ignorance” to attract public attention and activate social debate.